...that I managed to acquire a few of their pieces for myself!! (Thanks, again, Denise!)

I recently spent a delightful week in Minnesota with my friend, Becky... ...and despite the fact that I somehow only managed to photograph her ducks... ...(too busy feeding apples to the sheep to go fetch my camera?)... ...she does, in fact, have quite a large menagerie... ...including sheep, chickens, 'meepherds' (inside joke)... ...and a few domesticated animals, as well. During our time together, we felted several raw fleece projects... ...using wool from her 'babies'... ...and enjoyed delicious meals, prepared with uncommon flair. We also spent time in the company of artist friends and neighbors, Denise and Paul Morris... ...who make functional pottery featuring whimsical and kinetic designs. Next time: we 'take our show on the road'... ...and head west to South Dakota for a Fiber Fair!

Monday, September 22, 2014

...but in the end, the layers on the fabric side didn't 'couple'. ...and required basting to hold them together.

As a permanent fix, I used variegated merino yarn... ...and hand-sewed the layers into place.

On the(successful)side of the finished tote...

...the short fiber merino flowers...

...felted-in beautifully...

...while holding their glass centers securely in place.

A close-up of my hand-stitching.

The finished tote flower-side...

...and fabric-side.

By layering an intact layer of (quite dense) fabric... ...between the layers of wool in this project... ...I didn't allow for any 'wooly connections', and thus ran into trouble. Cutting slits in the silk layer of my 'noil and nepps' project... ...allowed wool to meet wool, and...'problem solved'! Next time: a pre-felt and yarn project... ...with marine overtones!